New Delhi: The Government has established a robust maritime search and rescue framework to address and respond to various contingencies in deep sea and in coastal areas of India, which includes distress onboard fishing boats and merchant vessels, safety of life during marine incidents and SAR (Search and Rescue) response during Cyclones etc. Director General Indian Coast Guard has been designated as the Chairman of National Maritime Search and Rescue Board (NMSARB), which constitutes members from national / coastal state administration / agencies.
The sanctioned strength of Coast Guard has increased from 8149 in 2008 to 16792 in 2018 which is 100% increase from manpower recruited in 2008. The ships and air assets of ICG are fitted with latest state-of-the-art technology equipment / systems / sensors to enhance surveillance capability of the Coast Guard. Adequate research & deliberations are undertaken while formulating the staff requirements for all acquisition cases so that the new ships & air assets inducted are the best in class.
A Coast Guard station at a particular location is set up taking into consideration the threat perception, vulnerability gap analysis and presence of other maritime organization / security set up in the vicinity. Presently, there are 08 stations functioning in the state of Gujarat at various locations. In addition, there is one CG Air Enclave and 02 District Headquarters for undertaking ICG charter in the area. Therefore, at this juncture no additional Coast Guard Station is planned in Gujarat and the existing assets are adequate to respond to any contingencies involving ICG charter.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shrimati Poonamben Maadam in Lok Sabha today.
